Visual completion of three-dimensional, chromatic, moving stimuli in humans.

We studied whether visual completion can be produced within three-dimensional (3-D), moving, chromatic objects. Rotating thin and thick discs with red sectors, forming the corners of Kanizsa triangle, were presented on a display. Observers also rotated a hand-held real thin Kanizsa triangle.

Efficiency of temporal integration of sinusoidal flicker.

Purpose: Detection efficiency for flickering stimuli of constant duration decreases with increasing temporal frequency. Increasing frequency in this case also implies increasing number of flicker cycles. The current study was conducted to investigate whether this result could be due to the limited ability of the central detector to integrate flicker cycles.

Scaling of letter size and contrast equalises perception across eccentricities and set sizes.

Double E(2)N(2) scaling, i.e. magnifying size and contrast, allows modelling of the deterioration of face recognition performance with increasing eccentricity (E) and the size (N) of the set from which a target face has to be identified.

Noise frame duration, masking potency and whiteness of temporal noise.

Purpose: Because of the limited contrast range, increasing the duration of the noise frame is often the only option for increasing the masking potency of external, white temporal noise. This, however, reduces the high-frequency cutoff beyond which noise is no longer white. This study was conducted to determine the longest noise frame duration that produces the strongest masking effect and still mimics white noise on the detection of sinusoidal flicker.

Spatial neural modulation transfer function of human foveal visual system for equiluminous chromatic gratings.

To determine the spatial modulation transfer function (MTF) of the human foveal visual system for equiluminous chromatic gratings we measured contrast sensitivity as a function of retinal illuminance for spatial frequencies of 0.125-4 c/deg with equiluminous red-green and blue-yellow gratings. Contrast sensitivity for chromatic gratings first increased with luminance, obeying the Rose-DeVries law, but then the increase saturated and contrast sensitivity became independent of light level, obeying Weber's law.

Identification of facial images in peripheral vision.

Contrast sensitivity for face identification was measured as a function of image size to find out whether foveal and peripheral performance would become equivalent by magnification. Size scaling was not sufficient for this task, but when the data was scaled both in size and contrast dimensions, there was no significant eccentricity-dependent variation in the data, i.e.

Scaling extrafoveal detection of distortion in a face and grating.

Peripheral performance involving simple visual tasks and stimuli can be equated with foveal performance by spatial scaling, whilst more complex tasks and stimuli seem to need additional scaling of image contrast. We therefore determined whether the contrast manipulation needed to compensate for eccentricity-dependent performance changes is due to an increase in stimulus or task difficulty. We measured contrast sensitivities to determine foveal and peripheral ability to discriminate between an original and a distorted version of a polar-circular sinusoidal grating and a face image.

Flicker sensitivity as a function of target area with and without temporal noise.

Flicker sensitivities (1-30 Hz) in foveal, photopic vision were measured as functions of stimulus area with and without strong external white temporal noise. Stimuli were circular, sinusoidally flickering sharp-edged spots of variable diameters (0.25-4 degrees ) but constant duration (2 s), surrounded by a uniform equiluminant field.

The effect of contrast and size scaling on face perception in foveal and extrafoveal vision.

Purpose: To determine whether face perception can be equalized across the visual field by scaling size and contrast simultaneously.

Methods: Contrast sensitivities were measured for detection (N = 1) and identification (N = 2-8) of a target face as a function of size (0.4 degrees-10 degrees) across eccentricities (E = 0 degrees-10 degrees).

Contrast matching across spatial frequencies for isoluminant chromatic gratings.

Contrast matching was performed with isoluminant red-green and s-cone gratings at spatial frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 8 c/deg. Contrast threshold curves were low-pass in shape, in agreement with previous findings.

Neon colour spreading in three-dimensional illusory objects in humans.

We studied whether neon spreading can be induced within three-dimensional illusory triangles. Kanizsa triangles were induced by black pacman disks consisting of red sectors with curved sides. Viewing our stimuli monocularly produced two-dimensional illusory contours and surfaces as well as neon spreading in each figure.

Spatial integration of signal information in Gabor stimuli.

We studied spatial integration of Gaussian weighted cosine gratings (Gabor gratings) in contrast detection by using a two-alternative forced-choice method. The Gabor gratings, which were either complete or sharply truncated to a square shape, were presented either in the presence or absence of static noise. Contrast thresholds were determined for different truncation areas and different widths of the two-dimensional Gaussian weighting function.

Modelling spatial contrast sensitivity functions for chromatic and luminance-modulated gratings.

We extended our detection model of achromatic spatial vision (Rovamo, J., Mustonen, J., & Näsänen, R.

Spatial integration and effective spectral density of one-dimensional noise masks.

When masking one-dimensional gratings, the strongest masking effect is achieved by using one-dimensional spatial noise, which can be regarded as a special case of two-dimensional noise where the noise check height is equal to the grating height. The extent of spatial integration in the human visual system is limited, however. Hence, our aim was to investigate whether the effective height of noise checks of one-dimensional noise is similarly limited.

The effects of temporal noise and retinal illuminance on foveal flicker sensitivity.

We measured foveal flicker sensitivity with and without external added temporal noise at various levels of retinal illuminance and described the data with our model of flicker sensitivity comprising: (i) low-pass filtering of the flickering signal plus external temporal and/or quantal noise by the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the retina (R): (ii) high-pass filtering in proportion to temporal frequency by the MTF of the postreceptoral neural pathways (P): (iii) addition of internal white neural noise; and (iv) detection by a temporal matched filter. Without temporal noise flicker sensitivity had a band-pass frequency-dependence at high and medium illuminances but changed towards a low-pass shape above 0.5 Hz at low luminances, in agreement with earlier studies.

Illusory motion capture and release in rotating 3-D figure in humans.

An illusory bar emerges in a cleft between two opposing gratings. When the gratings rotated around the vertical axis in three-dimensional (3-D) space, the illusory bar was seen either (i) rotating with the inducing gratings or (ii) as a stationary and opaque tape located in front of gratings. This illusion seems to be caused by the different temporal dynamics of the illusion and its inducers, especially by the slower extinction rate for the illusory bar than its inducers.

Contrast restoration model for contrast matching of cosine gratings of various spatial frequencies and areas.

The purpose of the model presented in this paper is to explain the well known fact that perceived contrast becomes independent of optical low-pass and neural high-pass filtering as well as areal integration with increasing stimulus contrast. In the model we assume that perceived contrast is computed by two different parallel mechanisms. One of them integrates signal information across space to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and is affected by the optical low-pass and neural high-pass filtering.

Foveal optical modulation transfer function of the human eye at various pupil sizes.

We determined the foveal optical modulation transfer functions of the human eye (O) for pupil sizes of 1-8 mm by using two simple psychophysical techniques. O as a function of spatial frequency f could be described by exp[-(f/fc)n] at any pupil size in our data as well as in the data available in the literature [J. Physiol.

Effects of spatial configuration and number of fixations on Kanizsa triangle detection.

Purpose: Illusory figures, created by the visual system between visualizing real objects, are probably caused by processes designed to segregate objects from background. Support ratio--that is, the ratio between the physically specified and total triangle side length--has been suggested to be the main spatial determinant for suprathreshold perception of a Kanizsa-type illusion. To test this scale invariance hypothesis at threshold, illusory figure perception was studied by determining the effects of inducer size and distance at various exposure durations and fixation strategies on the frequency of seeing (FoS) an illusory Kanizsa triangle.

The effects of eccentricity and stimulus magnification on simultaneous performance in position and movement acuity tasks.

We presented two tasks, spatial interval discrimination and displacement detection, simultaneously in the same location at various eccentricities. The subject was to solve (i) only the spatial interval task; (ii) only the displacement task; or (iii) both tasks simultaneously. With 500 msec stimulus duration, and using the method of spatial scaling, the E2 value (the eccentricity at which stimulus size has to be doubled to maintain performance level) was found to be 0.

Effect of image orientation contents on detection efficiency.

Contrast detection performance is known to be better for single component sinusoidal gratings than for sums of gratings at different orientations. A recent study Rovamo et al. (1994) (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 35, 2611-2619) showed that spatial integration is less effective for multiple orientation component than for single component gratings.

Detection of geometric image distortions at various eccentricities.

Purpose: Human ability to perceive spatial stimuli declines with increasing eccentricity. To study this phenomenon with natural images, the authors applied the spatial scaling method by measuring the smallest detectable amount of geometric change in a human face at several eccentricities for a series of stimulus magnifications to find out whether performance could be made equal across the visual field simply by an appropriate enlargement.

Methods: The authors used a novel method to produce subtle changes to an image of a face.

Modeling spatial integration and contrast invariance in visual pattern discrimination.

Purpose: Human pattern discrimination performance has been reported to be largely independent of stimulus contrast but to depend on stimulus area. The authors propose a model that combines the effects of spatial integration and contrast. The model is based on the computation of similarity between pattern templates in memory and signals to be discriminated using normalized correlation.

Flicker sensitivity as a function of spectral density of external white temporal noise.

Foveal flicker sensitivity at 0.5-30 Hz was measured as a function of the spectral density of external, white, purely temporal noise for a sharp-edged 2.5 deg circular spot (mean luminance 3.

A new psychophysical method for determining the photopic spectral-luminosity function of the human eye.

Using an 8 mm pupil, 2AFC-method, and 2 x 2 deg2 grating at 2 c/deg we measured contrast sensitivity as a function of integrated radiance for a series of interference filters with peak wavelengths at 400-700 nm. Irrespective of the radiance level, contrast sensitivity was highest when wavelength was at and around 550 nm. It decreased towards longer and shorter wavelengths, reflecting the variation of the probability of quantal catch with light wavelength.